Daisy Ridley’s mysterious Rey has been linked to numerous characters in the Star Wars universe since Episode VII: The Force Awakens hit cinema screens last December but this latest theory is a new one on us – could she really be related to Emperor Palpatine?

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You’ll remember Palpatine as the politician turned Sith Lord who brought Anakin Skywalker over to the Dark Side with him and created Darth Vader in the process.What could he possibly have in common with Rey?

One Redditor by the name of And_One88 decided to think about it in a little more detail.

“What if Rey is the Emperor’s relative? What if that’s why Luke is on the verge of tears at the end of VII?” they wrote, arguing that Luke’s new padawans may have discovered Rey’s true identity and opted to try to kill her.

The theory goes on to suggest that perhaps it was Kylo Ren who stepped in to save her, before leaving her on a desert planet for her own safety.

“I like the idea behind this because it isn’t as cliche and obvious as her being a Skywalker, but it still explains her exceptional gift with the force”, explains the author.

“Plus it better explains why Luke might not want to go looking for her. And finally, it opens up a more interesting dynamic to their relationship. Having tension between Luke wanting to care for her, but wary of the evil she may commit is much more dramatic than him simply finding his long-lost daughter who he didn’t even go look for…”

The one problem is that Rey is supposed to be 19 years old in The Force Awakes, which is set roughly 30 years after we watched Palpatine tumble down an energy shaft.

But hey, if Darth Maul survived being sliced in half and falling down a similar energy shaft, surely his master could too?

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Or perhaps Palpatine had children, who went on to finish what daddy started, and passed the power of the Dark Side down to their darling daughter…